We tallied how many ports were actually cross connected to a patch panel on each switch. Then we looked at if traffic had passed over the port and also if the port was active. This gave us a point in time look into the usage.
We also use DHCP snooping to track all dynamically assigned IP addresses which gives us a better idea on overall wired port usage. We also used the MACs that snooping records to find out how many of the active wired port IPs were gaming stations. We have ~10% to 15% port usage and ~30% of those active ports are gaming systems. This is, obviously, not 100% accurate but it gives a decently accurate estimation. Thank you, Brian Kellogg Network Services Manager St. Bonaventure University 716-375-4092 -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hector J Rios Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 3:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Wireless-only in residence halls Question somewhat related to this topic? How are you guys getting your stats to find out exactly how many users are using the wired ports? Are you just looking at the DHCP leases or do you assume that every port that is enabled is used? I'm asking this question because in our dorms all of our Ethernet ports are enabled. When the students pay for their dorm fees, they actually pay for the network port, whether they are going to use it or not. We are currently in the process of installing wireless in all of our dorms. Part of the agreement was that we would not use the existing wired ports (we have one port per bed). We have planned for a high capacity wireless network, using 802.11n, and 40 MHz bonded channel on 5GHz only, 20MHz on 2.4GHz. Our logic was that even though we are pretty sure that most of our students will make the switch to wireless once it becomes available, we wanted to maintain the wired ports in place for those users that need higher capacity or reliability. So this has made it a little difficult in the installation phase, specially in most of our buildings that are built like bomb shelters; walls with chicken wire, lots of cinder block, ceramic tile, etc. really fun stuff. Needless to say, we are having to install most of our APs inside the dorm rooms. This is where a good survey really pays off. I personally would not feel 100% comfortable with a wireless-only service. Especially if you are going to enforce some type of 802.1x/EAP security scheme. There is a chance that you would run into that one computer that just can't stay connected to the wireless. And if that situation ever comes up, you can always count on the wired alternative. Thanks, Hector Rios Louisiana State University -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kellogg, Brian D. Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 11:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless-only in residence halls We are seeing the same usage stats on wired ports here as well. The last time we checked it was actually around 92% of ports not being used. Thank you, Brian Kellogg Network Services Manager St. Bonaventure University 716-375-4092 -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lee H Badman Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 12:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Wireless-only in residence halls Mike- We are 100% covered with capacity-driven wireless in our residence halls. But, we still have at least a wired port per pillow. That being said, we now see our once-busy wired res nets running between 75-90% idle. A lot of ports just sitting there... Lee -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Dickson Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 11:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless-only in residence halls Wondering if anyone has successfully implemented a wireless-only network in their residence halls. If so, how is it working out? Was this a planned migration away from an "aging" wired jack infrastructure or was it new construction? Are you doing this with 802.11n, b/g, a or "everything? Any pitfalls? Did you still leave "some" client jacks around or were you able to go "full-blown" wireless? We have older (Cat 3 or worse) horizontal and are starting discussions around abandoning the wires and just installing home runs for APs. Any fresh advice would be greatly appreciated (saw an old thread from 2005). Regards, Mike -------------------------- Michael Dickson Network Analyst University of Massachusetts Amherst ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
